AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages Linkage Institutions

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages Linkage Institutions

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages Linkage Institutions Basic Definition: Channels through which people’s concerns become issues on the policy agenda In the U.S., includes The MEDIA, POLITICAL PARTIES ELECTIONS, & INTEREST GROUPS

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Includes: * Newspapers * Television * Magazines * Radio * The Internet

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Enlightened understanding is one criteria of an ideal Democracy “Information is the fuel of democracy”

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #1: Increasing concentration of Media Large corporations own a significant % of Media outlets Leads to similarity in news coverage

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Rupert Murdoch

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #2: Corporate goal = Profits Profits require advertising Advertising needs viewers & readers

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Democracy The Media Potential Problem #2: Bias = stories that attract large audience Leads to emphasis on Violence, Disaster, Scandal and Pictures

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #2: To large degree, TV defines “news” as whatever is entertaining to the largest # Trend has been to increase entertainment and shorten stories & words to very brief “sound bites”

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media “You simply cannot be a well-informed citizen by just watching the news on TV” Dan Rather Long-time CBS Anchorman

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #3: Superficiality of political reporting In campaigns, the focus is on: * Day-to-day campaigns activities... * Not on the substance of issues

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #3: Superficiality of political reporting In campaigns, the focus is on: * Daily standings of candidates in polls * Known as “horse-race” journalism

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media “Nothing of significance is going to be said in 7 seconds, but this seems to work to the advantage of many politicians. They are not required to say anything of significance, and issues can be avoided rather than confronted.” in America” Walter Cronkite Long-time CBS Anchorman

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #4: Self-interested shaping of news coverage by various groups & individuals... Parties, Interest Groups, Agencies, Individual politicians, PR firms, Congress, the President

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Roger Ailes Media consultant to Richard Nixon Ronald Reagan Bush I

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Change in Presidential Coverage “The president will not stand and be questioned like a chicken thief... “

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Change in Presidential Coverage FDR used “Fireside Chats” & friendly contacts with individual members of press to reach “The People”

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Democracy The Media Change in Presidential Coverage JFK had a friendly style that won over many individual journalists Also, the media did not cross into the Prez’ “personal life”

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Change in Presidential Coverage Unlike now...

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Change in Presidential Coverage Nixon did not enjoy a friendly rapport with members of the press Least favorites = Woodward & Bernstein WATERGATE

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #5: “Bias” Studies indicate journalists are more likely to consider themselves “liberal” than the general population

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media Potential Problem #5: However, the vast majority of studies also find that reporting is NOT systematically biased toward a particular party or ideology There is something called “journalistic objectivity”

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS – Linkages The Media... purpose is to educate and train students to become accomplished professional journalists. The school prepares them to perform a vital and challenging function in free societies: finding out the truth of complicated situations, usually under a time constraint, and communicating it in a clear, engaging fashion to the public.